Islands of the rich and famous

The 30-hectare resort at Bora Bora includes 150 rooms, each with a sun deck, looking onto the resort’s private bay. There are also four villas and 46 units for staff, as well as a 200-seat theatre.
AFR

Vitamin king Vaughan Bullivant may have put his island up for sale, but a number of Australians are among the super rich seeking a bit of “relaxation and serenity" on their own slice of paradise.

Mining billionaire Clive Palmer, Linc Energy founder and managing director Peter Bond and Computershare founder Chris Morris are on a growing list of business people and celebrities shelling out millions for an island or luxury resort.

While some can’t resist the urge to make a buck from their holdings with sky-high rentals, other just like to get far from the madding crowd with friends and family.

VAUGHAN BULLIVANT: DAYDREAM ISLAND

Orpheus Island Resort, a 21-room, 3 hectare property with development potential, is surrounded by more than 1000 hectares of national park.
AFR

The Daydream Island Resort and Spa in the Whitsundays, which almost sent founder Vaughan Bullivant broke as he lavished more than $75 million on it, has been put up for sale.

The flamboyant businessman – a former Australian water ski champion who sold the Nature’s Own vitamin company for $137 million in 1997 – paid about $25 million for the island in 2000 and has spent almost $50 million on it since.

He has put it up for sale amid early signs of a recovery in tourism to Whitsunday island resorts and emerging Chinese interest in the region.

Bullivant overcame health troubles earlier this year and said in May the island was turning a profit after some tough times caused by the high Aussie dollar and a fall-off in domestic tourism.

“The downturn has made it more affordable but I am not a resort owner and I still need to get my head around [the commercial side of] it," he told The Australian Financial Review in December. “We might joint venture it."

The Computershare co-founder – who vowed in 1978 never to buy another island – said just after settling on the resort: “You don’t see anywhere else that beats this – it’s a unique part of the world. You can catch fish, go sailing and not see another boat, there’s the reef and it’s protected, there will never be another resort built here."

Orpheus Island Resort, a 21-room, 3 hectare property with development potential, is surrounded by more than 1000 hectares of national park. It can take up to 42 guests and has full resort facilities such as a bar, restaurant, gym, swimming pools and tennis courts.

“It has been a very expensive exercise but that’s the fun of owning an island," he told the AFR recently. He expects to invest another $5 million to expand “experience tourism" at Orpheus.

Oatley, who uses his ­private Falcon jet to fly to his vineyards in NSW, Victoria and Western Australia, villa in Sardinia, Italy, and Hamilton Island, has spent about $350 million on the upgrade.

“[He’s] taken it from a dusty dog-eared place built in the 1980s to a very aspirational, upmarket destination which has both affordable and very upmarket accommodation,’’ Don Morris, a Hamilton Island director, told the AFR in December.

TERRY AGNEW: GREAT KEPPEL ISLAND

Property developer Terry Agnew has been working on getting federal and state government approvals for a $600 million resort on Great Keppel Island Resort. His previous proposals have run into environmental concerns but now he is hopeful plans for 1300 dwellings, a 250-berth public marina, and 18-hole golf course will get the green light.

Federal Tourism Minister Martin Ferguson threw his support behind the project in January 2012 but even the election of the Newman government has yet to see the development progress.

Mr Agnew’s company, Tower Holdings, bought the famed resort for $16.5 million in 2008 before shutting it down and unveiling plans for a $2.5 billion luxury resort shortly afterwards.

RICHARD BRANSON: NECKER ISLAND & MAKEPEACE ISLAND

Virgin Group’s Richard Branson bought the 74-acre Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands for £180,000 in the late 1970s. He spent about $US10 million over three years turning it into a resort that can accommodate up to 28 guests.

The property, which boasts private pools, tennis courts, two private beaches and a team of staff, rents out for $US53,000 to $US54,000 a day, according to Wikipedia. The island recently made headlines when the main house burnt down in a fire when Sir Richard and guests including actress Kate Winslet were in residence.

Sir Richard also bought Mosquito Island off the coast of Virgin Gorda in 2007 for £10 million, with plans to turn it into a eco-tourism resort.

Oracle Corp CEO Larry Ellison is a relative newcomer to island ownership, agreeing in June 2012 to buy 98 per cent of Hawaii’s sixth-largest island, Lanai.

The tech whiz, America’s third-richest person with a net worth of $US36 billion, bought the 365 square km island from LA billionaire David Murdock, who has owned and developed it since 1985.

The purchase price of Lanai – known as the pineapple island – wasn’t disclosed, but the Maui News has previously reported the asking price was in the range of $US500 million to $US600 million.

Ellison’s latest trophy boasts two resort hotels, two championship golf courses and club houses, more than 88,000 acres of land including a 600-acre residential development, a solar farm, parks and utilities, according to Bloomberg.

Russian mogul Roman Abramovich bought St Petersburg’s New Holland Island in 2010. The 45-year-old, whose toys include the biggest yacht in the world and a Boeing 767, plans to invest around $US400 million to reinvigorate the triangle-shaped island, which will include a museum to house his vast art collection. The 18-acre artificial island, a former military base, was built by Peter the Great in the early 18th century.